The role of the Federal Financial Control (CDF) is to put the finger where it hurts in the management of public funds. The saga of the purchase of six Hermes drones from the Israeli company Elbit System was the subject of a careful analysis published on Wednesday. The observation is sad: these drones which were ordered in 2015 are still not operational. Perhaps they will be in 2029, almost fifteen years after the decision to buy them.
In Parliament in 2014, the purchase of Israeli drones was contested by the left, because similar devices had been used to destroy infrastructure in the Gaza Strip at the time. But those ordered by Switzerland are reconnaissance drones. The Federal Council had chosen Hermes among 17 other devices proposed by 14 companies. The Federal Council had specified that this machine gave “the best overall result on the basis of all the evaluation criteria”.
The problem is that this device was in the development phase and this phase continued to lengthen. While it should have been operational in 2019 already, we will have to wait ten more years. In 2023, the army received two devices which showed major defects. 288 million francs have already been spent out of the 298 million planned envelope. The CDF is rightly concerned about a possible extension.
-The CDF is not kind to those responsible for the project, noting “overly ambitious objectives, incomplete planning and management, insufficient risk and quality management”. Worse: “Due to the lack of overall project planning, it is not possible to reliably assess its progress and determine when the system will be completed at the earliest.”
At a time when the army is asking for more resources, the pathetic saga of Israeli drones reminds parliamentarians in Bern that it is not enough to vote for additional billions for the army with our eyes closed. In no other area would such a lack of efficiency be tolerated. Unfortunately, in the army, we have the impression that incompetence is sometimes considered inevitable. No one takes responsibility for the consequences of negligence. And, in any case, we are not at war and the Russians are still far away.
